Stapling plier



.May 9, 1939- A E. c. JOHNSON 2,157,987

STAPLING PLIER Filed Jan. 7, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l" EEE' 7 706@6 INVENTOR EDWARD D. Lm-MSDN.

ATTORNEY May 9, 1939. E.. c. JOHNSON 2,157,987

STAPLING PLIER Filed Jan. '7, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l INVENTOR EDWARD D LDHNEJDN ATTORNEY Patented May 9, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STAPLING PLIER Application January 7, 1937, Serial No. 119,424

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to stapling pliers, particularly of the type adapted to separate individual staples from a staple strip and drive and clinch the staples with respect to the material to be stapled.

In certain types of pliers heretofore in use, it has been the practice to provide a pivoted staple driving head and staple carrying guide, which upon initial gripping operation of the plier handles was brought into relation with the anvil jaw to grip the material, the staple driver being then driven by the secondary gripping movement, this driving operation being brought about by the movement of the lever arm forming part of one of the handles, and which handle was pivotally mounted upon the same pivot axis as the axis about which the staple driving head and staple carrying guide moves. As a result of this arrangement it was not possible to obtain the mechanical advantage in the staple driver operating lever resulting from a short lever arm at the driver side of the axis and a long lever arm at the handle side, while at the same time providing a relatively long arm between the driving head and the axis supporting the staple carrying guide.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a plier structure in which the driver operating lever will be pivoted independently of the pivotal mounting of the driving head and guide, and further to provide a structure in which the operating handle of the staple driving lever will have slotted engagement with the pivo-t of the staple carrying head and guide to the end that the operating handle will be greatly increased in length and therefore the mechanical advantage greatly multiplied. It is also proposed to provide a plier in which the staple driver lever, having a separate axis from the driving head and guide, has its handle constituting the lower handle of the plier and which is pressed upwardly to drive the staple driver downwardly, whereby there is a direct and positive connection of the lever with the staple driver, as distinguished from pliers in which interposed levers or toggles are employed between the operating handle and the staple driver.

Another object is to provide a staple driver lever structure which may be formed from a single piece of sheet metal, which in addition to constituting the staple driver lever and handle will also form a supporting box structure about the staple guide, thereby greatly increasing the rigidity and strength of the plier and allowing for greater tolerances in the dimensions of the parts, without danger of their not iitting and operating properly.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved safety means mounted upon the staple driving lever and adapted to cooperate with the staple carrying head, which in operation will prevent the complete return movement of the plier to normal position when a staple has not been completely driven, and further to provide such means of simple construction and assembly and which will be positive and reliable in operation.

With the above and other objects in view -an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a stapling plier, according to the exemplary illustrated embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front end view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the main housing including the lower anvil jaw and the upper operating handle, the other parts being shown in side elevation.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a Vertical sectional view, taken along the line 'l-l of Fig. 3.

Figs. 8, 9, and 1l .are views, partially in side ele-vation and partially in broken away vertical section, and showing the operation of the staple driver lever and safety means in various stages; Fig. 8 showing the normal open position of the plier with the staple driver fully raised; Fig. 9 showing the staple driving head moved into position to grip the material to be stapled and the staple driver partially depressed, the safety means at this point being in position to prevent full return movement; Fig. 10 showing the parts at the completion of the staple driving operation with the staple fully driven and the safety means in position to permit full return movement; and Fig. 11 showing the parts during the return upward movement of the staple driving head just prior to assuming the normal position shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 12 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line |2|2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line l3-l3 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the slide member of the safety means employed.

Fig. 15 is a perspective View of the detent lever of the safety means employed.

Similar reference characters indicate corrospending parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings the stapling plier, according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated therein, comprises a housing I0, preferably formed of sheet metal pressed and bent to shape, having the upper grip handle ll formed integrally therewith, the lower por tions of the side walls of the housing having slots 2-l 2 constituting the material receiving mouth, and the portions |3--l3 of the side walls below these slots having a U-shaped sheet metal bracing strut member lli secured therebetween, pref erably by means of welding, and forming by its vtransverse portion the bottom wall of the housing. Within the strut member there is welded an anvil member l5 having at its forward end an upwardly offset portion le having .an anvil recess l? therein and having at its rearward end an upwardly bent wall I8 with which the spring of the pliers is adapted to be hooked, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The staple driving head and staple carrying lguide of the plier, which constitutes the upper jaw for cooperating with the anvil jaw, is of box-like form and comprises a first member if of U-form in cross-section having a rearwardly extending elongated channel extension portion 28 for receiving the staple strip carrier bar and staple feeder, kthe member I9 which extends vertically from the forward end of the extension portion 20 constituting the staple driving head.

Within the member I9 there is secured, preferably by welding, an inverted second U-shape frame member 2|, the upper transverse portion of which constitutes the top wall of the head, the lower edges of the sides of this frame member being provided with inwardly bent flanges 22-22 having their lower surfaces in line with the inwardly bent flanges 23-23 provided at the upper edges of the side walls of the extension 29 to form an upper staple strip guide, the inner edges of the flanges 22-22 projecting inwardly beyond the inner edges of the flanges 23-123 as shown in Figs. 5, 6, 'l and 12. A third U-shape closure member 24 is engaged about the forward edges of the member I9 to form a front wall therefor, the sides of this member 2li being secured by welding to the outer sides of the member i9. Y

The forward edges of the frame member 2| are inwardly spaced from the inner surface of the cover member 24 to provide a guide channel at each side of the head for the staple driver 25, this driver being provided with a slot 26 in which the end of the operating lever is engaged, as will hereinafter more fully appear, the member 25 also having a slot 21 through which said end of the operating lever projects. The forward edge of the transverse base of the member i9 is inwardly spaced from the front wall of the cover member 24 to provide slot 28 through which the staple driver drives the staples as the driver is depressed.

A staple carrier bar 29 (Figs. 6 and 7) of U- shape in cross-section is secured by welding to thebase of the me-mber I9 and its extension portion 2B, its forward edge being flush with the rearward edge of the staple driver passage. The side Walls of the staple carrier bar are slightly spaced from the side walls of the member iS and the extension 26, and the top edges .are slightly spaced from the inwardly bent flanges 22-22 of the frame member 2l and the inwardly bent flanges 23-23 of the extension 29, thereby providing right angular guide spaces at each side in which the inverted U-shape staple strip A is guided.

intermediate the ends of the member I9 .and extension 2! the base is transversely slotted, as at 3S, and ears :il-3l extend downwardly in flush relation with the side surfaces of the extension 2U, these ears being provided with aligned apertures 32-32 which are engaged by the pin 33, mounted in the sides of the housing i@ at a point rearwardly of the notches l2-I2, the side surfaces of the extension 2i) and the ears Si-l being spaced from the inner surfaces of the sides of the housing I9 a sufficient distance to receive the sides of the driver operating lever,

s will presently more fully appear.

The staple strip as seen in Fig. 3 is pressed forwardly, so that the first staple is disposed beneath the staple driver 25, by means of a staple feeder 3s, of inverted U-shape in cross-section, mounted on the bar 29 and having an apertured lug Se disposed within the channel of the bar and slidably engaged by a rod 36, having a head Si at its inner end disposed at the forward side of the lug 35, a spiral spring 33 being disposed about the rod between the rearward side of the lug 35 and a locking plate 39 secured upon the outer end of the rod. This locking plate hasa finger gripping extension d@ at its base and one side is provided with a lug 4l adapted to be turned into locking engagement with the notch i2 provided in the side wall of the extension 20. By turning the lug out of locking engagement with the notch the staple feeder may be removed for the purpose of inserting Vanother staple strip.

The staple driving lever is of sheet metal formed and bent to shape, and comprises .a lower gripping handle portion 43 from which the spaced side portions 44-44 are bent upwardly in spaced parallel relation and are then bent inwardly, as at l5- 45, the side portions which then extend upwardly yand forwardly being brought into contacting relation and welded together to form a forwardly projecting arm 46 of double metal thickness. This arm 4S is pivotally mounted within the housing lil upon a pin il?, secured between the sides of the housing, a bushing 4&8 being disposed upon the pin and engaged at its outer surface in the aperture 5U provided in the .arm 46. A fiange 4S is provided at one end of the bushing 48 to form an abutment for a friction spring, hereinafter more fully referred to. The forward end of the arm 46 is provided with a reduced extension 5! which is engaged through the slot 26 of th staple driver 25 and projects through the slot 2 of the forward wall of the closure member 24. Between this forward end 5l and the pivot pin 41 the safety means is mounted upon the .arm 46, as will presently more fully appear.

The side portions 44-44 with the right angularly extending upper and lower end portions formed by the inwardly bent portions 45-45 and the transverse base portion constitute a rectangular box-like formation of extreme rigidity, and in the assembled relation the sides 44-44 are disposed between the extension 20 and the 75 sides of the housing I0, so that upon pressing of the handles and 43 together these side portions move slidably between the extension 2U and the housing |0, being provided for this purpose with slots 52-52 arranged concentrically to the axis of the pin 4'! and engaged by the pin 33.

By virtue of this arrangement the pivot axis of the staple driving lever may be conveniently placed at a point forwardly of the upper portion of the housing l0. At the same time the lever may be of. a rigid type to produce direct and positive lever action upon the staple driver to drive it downwardly as the handle portion 43 is pressed upwardly, as distinguished from other designs where the lever actuating handle constituted the upper handle of the pliers and necessitated the interposition of an additional toggle lever to cause downward movement of the staple driver as the handle was pressed downwardly, such an arrangement being shown for instance in the patent to Polzer No. 1,983,397, dated December 4, 1934.

A spring 53, coiled intermediate its ends, has one end provided with a hook 54 hooked over the wall portion I6 of the lower jaw, its other end being slidably engaged with the inner surface of the handle 43, and its coil being disposed rearwardly of the pin 32 and pressing upwardly against the under surface of the extension 26', this single spring thus exerting pressure to both press the handle 43 to open position and to normally exert pressure upon the staple driving head I9 and extension 25 in clock-wise direction.

Upon the arm 46 (Figs. 6 and 8 to 10) of the staple driving lever there is mounted at one side a slide member 55 having a slot 56 near its rearward end slidably engaged upon the bushing 48 and provided at its forward end with spaced parallel flange portions 51 and 58 engaging the upper and lower parallel edges of the arm 46 just rearwardly of the end portion 5|. This slide member is normally urged rearwardly by means of a spring 59 coiled about the bushing 48, having one end bearing upon a lug 6i) provided upon the slide member and the other end engaged beneath the portion 45 (Fig. 3) of the lever, being restrained from rearward movement to its limit position in the normal open position of the pliers by abutment of the upper iiange portion 5l with a stop lug 6| bent downwardly from the upper transverse portion of the frame member 2| of the driving head, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8, this fiange 5l adapted during the driving of the staple to move beneath the lug 6| through rearward movement of the slide member to prevent full return movement of the lever, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The slide member is provided at its lower edge with a downwardly projecting nose portion 62, the rearward edge of which is inclined as at 63, to provide a camming surface which terminates at its upper end in a retaining notch 64. A rearwardly extending and inwardly bent ear 65 (Fig. 7) formed upon one side of the frame member 2| engages the outer surface of the slide member 55 to retain it in engagement with the left face of the arm 46 as illustrated in Fig. 7.

At the other side of the arm 46 from the slide member there is provided a detent lever 66 pivotally mounted upon the bushing 48 and pressed rictionally against the surface of the arm by a spiral spring 6l disposed about the bushing 48 between the detent lever and the flange 49 of the bushing. The detent lever is provided at its lower edge with a hook-like lug portion 68 extending from one side of the arm 46 transversely beneath the arm and upwardly to engage the opposed side of the arm rearwardly of the nose portion 52 of the slide member, this` lug portion 68 being shaped so as to engage the cam surface 63 to impart projecting movement to the slide member as the detent member is rotated relatively to the lever portion 46 and toy latchingly engage the notch 64 in one operative position to retain the slide member in projected position. The detent member is provided at its forward end with a downwardly projecting nose portion 69 adapted in one operative position to engage the flange 22 at one side of the frame member 2|, and is also provided with an upwardly projecting linger 76 adapted in one operative position to engage the upper transverse wall of the housing l0.

The operation is as follows:

As shown in Fig. 8 the plier is in its normal open position with the staple driver 25 in its fully raised position above the staple in the staple driving passage. As the handle 43 of the staple driving lever is pressed upwardly toward the handle the initial movement of the arm 46 swings the staple driving head and guide toward the anvil to grip the material to be stapled. The continued movement of the arm 46 then causes the staple driver to move downwardly in the staple driving passage relatively to the head, severing the staple from the staple strip and driving it toward the material.

As soon as the arm 46 and in its extension 5| moves away from the upper wall of the frame 2|, which is held stationary by the resistance offered by the material being stapled, the slide 55 is released through disengagement of the flange 51 from the lug 6i, whereupon the spring 59 retracts the slide 55 to a position where the flange 5T is directly below the lug 6|, as shown in Fig. 9. The detent lever 66 is in a downwardly swung position with its lug portion 68 out of engagement with the notch 64 of the slide 55, the spring 6l frictionally retaining the detent member in this relative position to the slide as the arm 46 is moved downwardly. This relation continues until the staple is fully ejected, and should the handle 43 be allowed to open before such full ejection the flange 5l will be obstructed by the lug 6| so that the arm 46 cannot have full return movement. With the parts in this position the staple driver 25 is at the forward end of the staple strip guide and prevents the forward feeding of another staple, so that there must be complete ejection of the staple in the passage before the plier is in position to operate again.

Fig. l0 shows the plier in the position after complete ejection of the staple. To attain this position the nose 69 of the detent lever 66 engages the flange 22 at one side of the frame 2| during the intermediate movement of the arm 46, and as the arm 46. continues its downward movement there is a relative swinging movement between the slide 55 carried by the arm 46 and the detent lever, whereupon the lug portion 68 of the detent lever rides upon the cam surface 63 of the slide 55, causing the latter to be projected upon the arm 46, the lug portion 68 then being latchingly engaged with the notch 64 under the rearward pressure of the spring 59 upon the slide to retainthe slide in projectedv position and to retain the detent lever 66 in this latching position during the upward movement of the arm 46. In this projected position the flange 5l is forwardly out of the path of the be retracted by its spring, said staple driving head having means to restrain retracting movement of said slide member, and means adapted to be disposed in the path of said slide member in its retracted position to restrain complete return movement of said lever to its normal fully raised position, a detent lever pivotally mounted upon said lever, means adapted in the completely depressed staple driving position of said lever to cause relative swinging movement between said detent lever and said staple driving lever, cam means cooperating between said detent lever and said slide member adapted to project the latter upon said relative swinging movement between said detent lever and said staple driving lever whereby said slide member is in a position to permit said complete return movement ofi-said staple driving lever, and means adapted to cause said detent lever to release said slide member upon said complete return movement ci said staple driving lever.

8. In a stapling device, a staple guide, a stapling head having lateral and vertical abutment means, a staple driver, a lever engaged with said driver for imparting reciprocating movement thereto, a locking member movably mounted on said lever for lateral reciprocatory movement and xed against rotary movement relative to said lever, means for limiting the to and fro movement to a predetermined distance, spring means normally pressing said member in one direction relatively to said lever, said locking member having laterally spaced vertically offset upper and lower abutment portions for cooperation with the said lateral abutment means of said stapling head to oppose upward movement of said member and a retaining portion between said abutment portions for cooperation with said vertically disposed abutment means of said stapling head to oppose lateral movement of said member under the inuence of said spring and to retain it at an intermediate point between the limits of its movement under the influence of said spring, said lower abutment portion being at the side of saidv retaining portion, initial movement of said lever to move said staple driver in staple driving direction adapted to disengag-e said retaining portion from said vertical abutment means whereby said upper abutment portion is moved into vertically opposed relation to said lateral abutment means to block complete return movementroi said driver,

vcam means adapted during the Vstaple driving movement of said driver to move said locking member in return direction said movement being completed upon complete staple driving movement of said driver, retaining means adapted upon completion of the staple driving movement of said driver to retain the locking member in its fully returned position with said lower abutment portion in the vertical path of said lateral abutment means, and releasing means for releasing said retaining member upon complete return movement of said driver.

EDWARD C. JOHNSON. 

